Kintaro Ohki

Who was Kintaro Ohki?

Kintarō Ōki was arguably the greatest South Korean professional wrestler of all time, also known professionally as Kim Il or KIM Il during his career in the Japan Wrestling Association, All Japan Pro Wrestling and International Pro Wrestling from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Ohki had hopes of becoming a student of Japanese wrestling legend Rikidōzan, another Korean, and entered Japan illegally in 1958 to do so, but was arrested in 1959. After being released he was able to train with Rikidōzan and joined the Japan Wrestling Association, debuting in November 1959 under his real name. On September 30, 1960, Ohki defeated fellow rookie Kanji Inoki, later Antonio Inoki, who was making his debut along with Shohei Baba, later Giant Baba. Ohki, Baba and Inoki were considered a part of a rookie trio groomed to become the eventual successors to Rikidōzan himself. Ohki was also trained by Mr. Moto and Yoshinosato.

With Rikidōzan's murder in 1963 Ohki returned to his homeland to raise the profile of professional wrestling there, but returned to the JWA when Toyonobori and Inoki left the promotion, though he returned the next year. Also in 1967 Ohki became the top star in Korea with his defeat of Mark Lewin to win the World Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship. With this the JWA wanted to rename him to Rikidōzan but the plan never went through.